text:
Peter Burnett
John McDougal
John Bigler
J. Neely Johnson
John Weller
Milton Latham
John Downey
Leland Stanford
Frederick Low
Henry Haight
Newton Booth
Romualdo Pacheco
George Perkins
George Stoneman
Washington Bartlett
Robert Waterman
Henry Harrison Markham
James Budd
Henry Gage
George Pardee
James Gillett
Hiram Johnson
William Stephens
Friend Richardson
C.C. Young
James Rolph
Frank Merriam
Culbert Olson
Earl Warren
Goodwin Knight
Edmund G. "Pat" Brown
Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown
George Deukmejian
Pete Wilson
Gray Davis
9th Governor, Unionist
Delivered: December 10, 1863
FELLOW CITIZENS:
In cheerful compliance with established usage, I desire to present, in general terms, the policy by which I intend to be guided in the discharge of the responsible trust which you have placed in my keeping. If I enter upon the duties of the Executive office with some natural misgivings, arising from a want of that long experience in public affairs which one of more years might have brought to the service of the State, they are in some degree compensated by a consciousness that my desire to be faithful in this high office is unalloyed by any less worthy aims.
While the Executive Department has but little power other than its designation indicates, it is always properly held responsible for a failure to suggest to the Legislature measures so evidently necessary and desirable as to insure co-operation and success. The recent amendments to the Constitution have increased the term of the Governor's office to four years—a period of time during which great changes must of necessity occur in the wants and resources of the State. The Legislature will hereafter convene biennially only, and the wants of two years, instead of one, as heretofore, are to be anticipated and provided for at each session. This new order of things—calculated to lessen the expenses of the Government, and to give to our legislation more permanence than has been hitherto enjoyed—increases the responsibility of both the Executive and the Legislature, and makes an additional call upon their zeal and watchfulness in the conduct of public affairs. While I shall affect no unbecoming distrust of the future in this connection, I have thought it well thus to remind you at the outset that these constitutional reforms impose some labors differing from those of previous administrations.
My primary duty of seeing that the laws are faithfully executed will happily be an easy one, for amid the throes of a terrible civil war, the people of California have steadfastly maintained their established regard for local authority. The executive officers of the Courts will not be likely to require any aid from beyond their respective neighborhoods in the performance of their duties.
In view, however, of our National troubles, and of possible (let us hope not probable) foreign complications, this habitual respect for our State laws, and for the decrees of our Courts, will not render it wise for us to disregard the importance of a well organized and disciplined militia. The able-bodied men of the State ought certainly to be instructed in the use of arms and in military drill. Whether this desirable end cannot be attained, and the efficiency of the militia be promoted by such modifications of the present system as will materially lessen the expense, is a subject well worthy of consideration. Our people have in times past given but little thought to the organization of the militia, and I should regret to see any check given to the growing inclination to bestow upon the matter the attention its importance demands. At the same time, utility rather than a love of display should be kept in view, and economy be thereby consulted.
The financial condition of the State demands serious attention, and the immediate adoption of measures which shall not only provide for necessary current expenditures, but by which the floating debt shall be surely extinguished and our affairs be placed upon a cash basis. Whether this is to be accomplished by an increase of the revenues, or by a decrease of the expenditures, or both, or by other means, I have now no data upon which to base any suggestions. It must be apparent to any one who has examined into thc public finances, that the State is paying an interest, directly and indirectly, of two per cent per month as a minimum, on a large portion of the current expenditures. Until a remedy can be found for this state of things, little hope can be entertained of inaugurating, in many departments, reforms which seem necessary—nay, imperative. I shall at an early day inform myself concerning the condition of the finances, and transmit the result to the Legislature, accompanied with such recommendations as may seem to me practical and conducive to the ends I have indicated.
It will devolve upon me to make some appointments to office. In the discharge of this responsible duty I shall endeavor to select men of earnest loyalty, unquestionable integrity, and the requisite capacity. I believe that these are times in which men of intelligence, energy, conscience and courage should alone be placed in positions of trust and influence. It will be my aim to appoint such, and none others, to the few places I am charged with filling, to the exclusion of drones whose small talents and less energies are usually exhausted in efforts to obtain places which they are not competent to fill. It would, I think, be well if all officers, not elected by the people could be made more directly responsible than many of them are under existing laws to the power appointing them. If the Executive, or the Legislature, or any Board of officers authorized to make appointments, find that confidence has been misplaced, the unworthy recipient should be subject to removal by the power which appointed him. This is particularly to be desired now when every man's fidelity to the right is undergoing the severest conceivable tests, and when time-servers may, almost any day, make some one of the great events of the war a pretext for opposition to the National Government. I trust that the importance of this subject will not be overlooked by the Legislature.
The veto power conferred by the Constitution upon the Governor should be used with caution, and only in cases where to refrain would be detrimental to the best interests of the State. In considering bills which may come to me for my official sanction, while I should greatly regret to differ with the legislative representatives of the people, I shall not forget that I, too, have been intrusted with a share of the responsibility in the matter, and that I cannot render a good account of my stewardship if my approval is given to a single Act which my judgment tells me is inconsistent with the fundamental law or with the public welfare.
The support of penal, reformatory, and benevolent institutions forms a part of the burdens which must always be borne by well regulated communities. In this State there are, in addition to the usual public institutions of this character, a number of private charitable enterprises, which have hitherto received material aid from the State—the appropriations in their behalf amounting last year to thirty thousand dollars. Such munificent gifts in aid of suffering and helpless humanity would be a source of pride to every good citizen, if the State had anything to give; but appropriations so large of mere promises to pay, while State warrants to the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars are selling in the market at rates far from flattering to the public credit, seem to me to be an exhibition of generosity at the expense of justice towards those who have become creditors of the State. I am firmly of the opinion that no additional debt should be created for these purposes, and that the various local charities should, for the present at least, rely upon the aid of private citizens, and, where circumstances justify it, of the county authorities. Our State Prison system is far from perfect; the various attempts at reform heretofore made not having been followed by the desired results. It shall be my endeavor to do something toward making the prisoners support themselves by their own labor. The Prison, in its present state, but poorly answers the purpose for which it was intended, and until a considerable outlay is made, to enable the enforcement of discipline by the solitary confinement of the disobedient, it will be next to impossible to compel the labor of the convicts. It would be economy for the State to make some provision for the necessary improvements.
The Insane Asylum will, I trust, under the provisions of the Act of the last Legislature, be so improved and enlarged as to be fully adequate to thc wants of the unfortunate class for whom it is intended, thus permanently disposing of the proposition heretofore frequently agitated, for a branch Asylum in some other portion of the State.
The reformation of juvenile offenders has become an established portion of the labor and expense of good and wise governments in the older States, and in Europe. It seems that but few offenders have been sent to our State Reform School. From this it would appear, either that there are very few boys in the State, outside of San Francisco, requiring the discipline of such a school, or very few men who attend to the duty of sending them there. The subject is one that is everywhere else deemed worthy of more consideration than it has thus far received in California.
The State has, with commendable liberality, provided for the care and education of the deaf, dumb, and blind. An appropriation of seventy-five thousand dollars for the completion of the Asylum buildings was submitted to a vote of the people at the late election, and the proposition was indorsed [sic] by the popular vote. It may well be questioned whether so large an amount is necessary to provide adequate accommodations for this unfortunate class, and it is to be hoped that the Commissioners in whose charge this matter is, will keep in view the embarrassed condition of the State, and expend only so much of the Fund as may be absolutely necessary.
Special legislation has been a crying evil in this State. A large proportion of each session of the Legislature has been consumed in listening to the advocates of relief bills, bills granting franchises and other special privileges, and bills even to advance the personal interests of criminals, litigants in civil cases, and the Administrators of the estates of deceased persons. The Legislature cannot judge as intelligently concerning the bridges, ferries, and roads of the several counties as can the county authorities, nor concerning the rights of parties in Courts as can the Judges thereof. Believing that bills of the character referred to are too often allied together, and passed by the joint efforts of the friends of all, I shall not hesitate to withhold my approval from any bill granting privileges which might have been granted, under the general laws of the State, by the Supervisors of the county therein concerned, had they deemed it, advisable, or any bill intended to aid parties in Court to favors denied them there. It may be, that the general laws intended to confer upon Supervisors the authority requisite for the proper management of local concerns are in some particulars insufficient for the purpose. If it should so appear, the true remedy is to be found in proper amendments to those laws; but under the guise of a general law no special interests should be subserved.
The San Francisco water front has been a perplexing subject in and out of the Legislature for several years past; but fortunately for the interests of the State it was finally disposed of by the Act of last session, and will henceforth hardly be a public question, excepting so far as the general desire is concerned to see the existing legislation upon the subject faithfully carried out.
The cause of education must always be regarded as of the very first importance by those who desire the perpetuation of our free republican system of government. The right of the people to govern themselves is of no value unless coupled with the capacity to govern themselves well. It is essential, then, that all classes of the community should enjoy the benefits of a liberal and enlightened educational system. Probably this has been as well cared for in this State as our rapid growth would permit; but there is ample room for improvement, and I sincerely trust that, at the close of my term of office it will be found that such progress has been made as the times shall have demanded and our means justified. The proceeds of the bounties so liberally granted to the State by the General Government for School purposes should be inviolably preserved to their proper uses, and the debt due to the School Fund—which under no pretence should ever have been contracted—should be preferred before all other claims. The State Normal School, now in its infancy, will doubtless prove the same indispensable auxiliary to the general cause that similar institutions have become in older communities, and should be liberally fostered. The conditions imposed by the Acts of Congress granting lands to the State in aid of institutions of learning of a higher order, render it necessary that steps be taken speedily to avail ourselves of the benefits to be derived from these munificent donations.
I am glad to see a growing disposition among the people to guard the elective franchise from abuse, and to erect additional guards to its fair exercise. Nothing can so greatly conduce to this end as a well considered and practical Registry Law. The slight inconvenience which such an enactment would impose upon the legal voters of the State would be much more than compensated by the security it would give them against being overborne at elections by fraudulent voting. Of the constitutionality of such a measure I have no doubt, although I am aware that many persons entertain a different opinion; and it is unfortunate, perhaps, that a provision giving to the Legislature ample power over the subject in clear and unmistakable language, was not submitted to the people among the late amendments to the Constitution.
Our agricultural districts are being steadily settled by an industrious and stable population, whose patient and well directed energy will in a few years place California in the front rank of the Agricultural States. For this we are indebted to the wise and generous Public Land policy of the National Government, and in co-operating [sic] by every means possible with that policy we shall best promote the material interests of the State, and at the same time encourage the industry of a worthy class of citizens, upon whom the prosperity of the State must always largely depend. Commerce is an element of great importance to our State, and it is her true policy to provide ample accommodations for it, and place upon it as few restrictions as are consistent with the enforcement of such police regulations for our ports as may from time to time be found necessary. No tax should ever be laid upon commerce for the aggrandizement of individuals or corporations, or for the support of useless public officers.
While evidences are multiplying around us of the steady progress, in the State, of her agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing interests, it is apparent to every one that our mining interest is far the most important of any, and must continue to be so for some years to come. The policy of the General Government in respect to the mines is well understood; and assurances have been very recently publicly given that no change is contemplated or considered desirable. So long as the title of the United States to the mineral lands is recognized and respected by those engaged in working them, the local regulations of each district, made by the miners themselves, will continue to prevail. The attempts made some years since, in an opinion by one of our then Supreme Judges, to assert for California the ownership of the mineral lands of the United States within her boundaries, was so repugnant to the loyal sentiment of our people, and so manifestly in conflict with the rightful sovereignty of the Nation, that but few men can now be found who have the hardihood to engage in its defence. I have always considered it as most consonant with our popular form of government, and at the same time the wisest policy financially, both for the State and the United States, to encourage all citizens to enter freely upon the public mineral lands for mining purposes. In the present embarrassed condition of the National finances, it seems to me peculiarly desirable that every encouragement should be given to the increased production of the precious metals. The present system is unquestionably the best one by which the mineral wealth of our State can be made available to the country; any radical change in it would only serve to lock up our gold in the bowels of the earth, which would be a short-sighted policy indeed. It is fortunate that, on the one hand, the General Government adheres steadfastly to its established course, and on the other hand, that our California miners are ready to show at all times a proper understanding of the fact that they are upon the lands of the United States.
The Geological Survey of the State, which is in the hands of a gentleman of high national reputation, is an important branch of the public service. The publication of the results of his labors will give to the world a correct knowledge of our mineral resources, which can be imparted in no other manner so likely to carry conviction. The cost of the survey, and of the publication hereafter of its reports, is as nothing compared with the advantages to be derived by the State. I hope the State Geologist, and those whom he has selected to aid him, will receive that encouragement and material aid to which their capacity and zeal, and the magnitude and character of their labors entitle them, and without which their useful work would have to be abandoned. I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the renewal you have recently made at the ballot box of your pledge to stand firmly by the National cause. Twenty thousand majority for Representatives in Congress, known to be the ardent friends of Liberty and Union, must finally destroy all hopes which foreign or domestic foes of the United States may ever have entertained of receiving aid and sympathy from the Pacific Coast. Our position on this great question has now been four times announced by ballot since the commencement of the Southern rebellion, and four times has the popular will here emphatically declared against any other peace than that which will follow upon the submission of the rebels to the Nation's rightful authority. To the States now loyal is California indebted for all that Congress ever did for her advancement—from the Act of Admission in eighteen hundred and fifty, upon which the now insurgent chiefs threatened secession, down to the Pacific Railroad Act of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, which those bad men had lost the right to longer oppose in Congress; and this, too, notwithstanding the persistency with which, up to eighteen hundred and sixty-one, she clung to her unnatural alliance with the Cotton State politicians. If our brethren in the North and West were so ready to respond to our calls then, when we seemed cold and distant, we can hardly fail to be heard now, when we send to the Councils of the Nation men who are earnest co-laborers with them in the greatest cause ever contended for in the field or in the forum.
The admission of Nevada into the Union as a State, at the present session of Congress, is, I presume, a foregone conclusion. She will be the third State formed on this side of the continent within fourteen years, and, like her older neighbors—California, and Oregon—has already shown that she will be jealous of her reputation for fidelity to the Nation. Let us look to it, here on the Pacific slope, that such safeguards as prudence may dictate, be placed around this happy condition of things, to prevent the possibility of the current of civilized progress being stayed or turned back by disfranchised refugees from the rebellious regions.
The war for the suppression of the rebellion is making steady progress toward the accomplishment of that, its only end. During its continuance discussions naturally enough arise concerning the political effect of the rebellion upon the governmental organizations which existed at its commencement in the rebel communities. No combinations of men or of circumstances can prevent the proper and safe solution of the great problems involved in this terrible conflict. The events now transpiring seem, indeed, too mighty to be absolutely controlled by mere human agencies. The laws of change and of progress are doing their appointed work among this people, who, amid much material prosperity, suffered a domineering element to so gain strength as finally to set at defiance all previous restraints—appealing to the arbitrament of the sword when it could no longer control the ballot box. The great body of the Union men of the country are agreed upon this main proposition: that the rebel State authorities have no legitimacy or legal existence; that no loyal citizen of the United States can yield them willing obedience; and that our Government can never, without humiliation and disgrace, recognize any one of their acts. Other and loyal State Governments must succeed them as our arms prevail. Our whole duty now is by all possible means to strengthen our armies which are contending with the rebellion. By what agencies and through what modes local governments, republican in form, are to be re-established in those States by the loyal inhabitants, old and new, is not a vital question now, and cannot be until they have ceased to be battle fields. That the rebels will neither consent nor be permitted to participate in the erection of the new Union State Governments, is certain. That the loyal men who do erect those governments will do their work well, and make it worthy of the age, seems to me equally certain. With the triumph of our arms must come the destruction of the order of things by which a resort to them was compelled. This is the logic of events, and not a mere question of parchments. Let us all continue to agree with regard to these ends, and no means will ever be adopted by those we have intrusted with power which do not have them in view.
With a full determination to devote whatever of capacity and energy I may possess to the promotion of the best interests of the State and Nation, and invoking the assistance of Almighty God to guide me aright, I am now prepared to enter upon my official duties.


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Multilingual Children's Speech
Speech acquisition
Speech acquisition studies
Speech assessments
Intelligibility in Context Scale
Speech Participation and Activity Assessment of Children (SPAA-C)
International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech
Speech Participation and Activity Assessment of Children
International Expert Panel
The International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech (IEPMCS) formed in 2012. Invited members are speech-language pathologists, phoneticians, linguists and speech scientists with specialist knowledge and publications in the field of childhood speech sound disorders, multilingualism, or both. Members collaborate during face-to-face meetings and online to create resources to support multilingual children's speech acquisition. A current focus of the IEPMCS is to draw on the knowledge of the members to create resources for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and educators to work with children and families do not speak the same language as them.
Professor Sharynne McLeod and Dr Sarah Verdon
Charles Sturt University, Australia
Different members of the IEPMCS are involved in different projects (see links below for names of contributing members). Members speak many different languages and have worked in many different countries including: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, People's Republic of China, Ecuador, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Viet Nam.
The formation of the IEPMCS was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT0990588) titled: Speaking my Languages: International Speech Acquisition in Australia awarded to Sharynne McLeod (2009-2013).
57 members who had worked in 33 countries and used 26 languages in professional practice.
Photo: 2012 IEPMCS face-to-face meeting, Cork, Republic of Ireland
Convenors
Sharynne McLeod (chair) (Charles Sturt University, Australia)
Sarah Verdon (Charles Sturt University, Australia)
Caroline Bowen (Macquarie University, Australia and University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
Face-to-face panel
Penelope Bacsfalvi (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Kate Crowe (Charles Sturt University, Australia; National Acoustic Laboratories, Australia)
Barbara Davis (The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA)
Anne Hesketh (The University of Manchester, UK)
Nancy Scherer (East Tennessee State University, TN, USA)
Jane Speake (University of Sheffield, UK; Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, UK)
Seyhun Topbaş (Anadolu Üniversitesi, Turkey)
Karla N. Washington (University of Cincinnati, OH, USA)
A. Lynn Williams (East Tennessee State University, TN, USA)
Yvonne Wren (North Bristol Trust / University of the West of England, UK)
Krisztina Zajdó (The University of West Hungary, Hungary)
Natalia Zharkova (Queen Margaret University, Scotland, UK)
Online contributors and supporters
Elise Baker (The University of Sydney, Australia)
Martin J. Ball (University of Louisiana at Lafayette, LA, USA)
Elaine Ballard (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
Avivit Ben David (Hadassah Academic College and Tel-Aviv University, Israel)
B. May Bernhardt (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Mirjam Blumenthal (Royal Dutch Kentalis, The Netherlands)
Françoise Brosseau-Lapré (McGill University Health Centre, Canada)
Ferenc Bunta (University of Houston, TX, USA)
Madalena Cruz-Ferreira (Independent scholar, Singapore)
Jan Edwards (University of Wisconsin- Madison, WI, USA)
Annette Fox-Boyer (European University of Applied Sciences EUAS, Rostock, Germany)
Ellen Gerrits (HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, The Netherlands)
Christina Gildersleeve-Neumann (Portland State University, OR, USA)
Brian A. Goldstein (La Salle University, PA, USA)
Helen Grech (University of Malta, Malta)
David Ingram (Arizona State University, AZ, USA)
Minjung Kim (California State University-Fullerton, CA, USA)
Ghada Khattab (University of Newcastle, UK)
Kathryn Kohnert (University of Minnesota, MN, USA)
Sari Kunnari (University of Oulu, Finland)
Rebekah Lockart (Macquarie University and Royal North Shore Hospital, Australia)
Brenda Louw (East Tennessee State University, TN, USA)
Jane McCormack (Charles Sturt University, Australia)
Andrea A. N. MacLeod (Université de Montréal, Canada)
Stefka H. Marinova-Todd (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Þóra Másdóttir (The National Hearing and Speech Institute, Iceland; University of Iceland, Iceland)
Karen Mattock (Lancaster University, UK)
Ineke Mennen (ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory and Practice, Bangor University, Wales, UK)
Vesna Mildner (University of Zagreb, Croatia)
Ben Munson (University of Minnesota, MN, USA)
Sandra Neumann (University of Cologne, Germany, Juelich Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Germany)
Michelle Pascoe (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Sue Peppé (Independent scholar, Scotland, UK)
Raúl F. Prezas (Texas Christian University, TX, USA)
Raúl Rojas (University of Texas at Dallas, TX, USA)
Yvan Rose (Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada)
Tuula Savinainen-Makkonen (University of Oulu, Finland)
Carol Stoel-Gammon (University of Washington, WA, USA)
Carol Kit Sum To (University of Hong Kong, SAR China)
Cori J. Williams (Curtin University, Perth, Australia)
Mehmet Yavaş (Florida International University, FL, USA)
Article: International aspirations
McLeod, S., Verdon, S., Bowen, C., and the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech (2013). International aspirations for speech-language pathologists' practice with multilingual children with speech sound disorders: Development of a position paper. Journal of Communication Disorders, 46(4), 375–387. doi 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2013.04.003
Contributing members: 57 members who had worked in 33 countries and used 26 languages in professional practice.
Yvonne Wren (North Bristol Trust/ University of the West of England, UK)
Madalena Cruz-Ferreira (Freelance Linguist, Singapore)
Jan Edwards (University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA)
Helen Grech (University of Malta, Malta), David Ingram (Arizona State University, AZ, USA)
Intelligibility in Context Scale: Translations
Tutorial: Speech assessment
McLeod, S., Verdon, S., & International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech (2016, in press). Tutorial: Speech assessment for multilingual children who do not speak the same language(s) as the speech-language pathologist. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
Photo: 2014 IEPMCS face-to-face meeting, Stockholm, Sweden
Sharynne McLeod (co-chair) (Charles Sturt University, Australia)
Sarah Verdon (co-chair) (Charles Sturt University, Australia)
Martin J. Ball (Linköping University, Sweden)
Daniel Bérubé (Université de Saint-Boniface, Canada)
Caroline Bowen (Macquarie University, Australia)
Françoise Brosseau-Lapré (Purdue, University, IN, USA)
Kathryn Crowe (Charles Sturt University, Australia)
Annette Fox-Boyer (European University of Applied Sciences, Germany)
Brian Goldstein (La Salle University, PA, USA)
Anne Hesketh (University of Manchester, UK)
Suzanne Hopf (Charles Sturt University, Fiji)
Minjung Kim (California State University, CA, USA)
Andrea MacLeod (Université de Montréal, Canada)
Jane McCormack (Charles Sturt University, Australia; University of Sheffield, UK)
Þóra (Thora) Másdóttir (The National Hearing and Speech Institute, University of Iceland, Iceland)
Glenda Mason (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Sarah Masso (Charles Sturt University, Australia)
Sandra Neumann (University of Cologne, Germany)
Martina Ozbič (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Giang Pham (San Diego State University, CA, USA)
Rosario Román (Bilingual Multicultural Services, NM, USA)
Susan Rvachew (McGill University, Canada)
Seyhun Topbaş (Istanbul Medipol University, Turkey)
Nancy Scherer (Arizona State University, TN, USA)
Joseph P. Stemberger (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Isao Ueda (Osaka University, Japan)
Carol Westby (University of New Mexico, NM, USA)
Yvonne Wren (Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit; North Bristol NHS Trust; Bristol University; University of the West of England, UK)
Tutorial: Speech intervention
McLeod, S., Masso, S., & International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech (2016-). Tutorial: Speech intervention for multilingual children who do not speak the same language(s) as the speech-language pathologist. Manuscript in preparation.
Photos: 2016 IEPMCS face-to-face meeting, Halifax, Canada (top)
30th IALP World Congress, Dublin, Ireland, 2016 (bottom)
2016: International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Dublin, Ireland
2016: International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association Conference Halifax, Canada
2016: Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, Perth, Australia
2013: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Chicago, IL, USA
2013: International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Turin, Italy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
K-12 Zone
Nine vying for HCC board seat
By Ericka Mellon on January 31, 2013 at 10:04 AM
The recently vacated west-side position on the Houston Community College board has drawn nine applicants.
The board is scheduled to discuss and possibly vote on filling the seat at a 4 p.m. meeting Thursday.
Richard Schechter, the board member who resigned from the District V seat this month, has recommended Don McAdams, a former Houston ISD trustee, to replace him until an election is held in November. McAdams serves as chairman of a consulting firm for school boards across the country.
The district includes Bellaire, River Oaks, West University and Sharpstown.
The other applicants are:
*Leila Feldman, the general counsel for Humble ISD, former general counsel for Fort Bend ISD and associate general counsel for HCC from March 2009 through June 2010.
*Reagan Flowers, a consultant and CEO of a nonprofit focused on science, technology, engineering and math education. She ran for the Harris County Department of Education board last year and co-hosted fundraisers for HCC trustee Carroll Robinson.
Robinson said he knows several of the applicants and has settled on one. With such a large pool, he said he wants the Greater Houston Partnership to interview the applicants and whittle down the list.
*Robert Glaser, a business owner and president of the Precinct 222 Democratic Club.
*Katie Imber, a territory business manager for a medical supplies company.
*Philip Kunetka, the president of the Maplewood Civic Club and vice president of the Harris County Protective Services board.
*Mary Martin, an attorney whose recommendations tout her experience as a Girl Scout leader and community volunteer.
*Oscar Salazar Jr., a program coordinator at AIDS Foundation Houston.
*Christina Stone, an attorney, former Bellaire City Council member and past president of the construction trade group, Associated Builders and Contractors.
Ericka Mellon


The crisp detail of this decorative knob showcases its fleur-de-lis motif. Cast in iron with an antique, lacquered finish, it stands up to frequent use. It's suited for larger drawers and cabinets in a variety of interiors, from Victorian to romantic revival.
Dimensions. 1 1/2" D x 1 1/4" P. Base: 7/8" D. with 1" mounting screw.


text:
PGWPs expired after September 20, 2021 can get extension
Photo: CIC News
By Shelby Thevenot
Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) holders whose work permit expires between September 20, 2021 and December 31, 2022 may be eligible for the upcoming one-time PGWP extension.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser extended the eligibility start date of the previously-announced PGWP extension from January, 2022 to September, 2021.
The new policy is beneficial to anyone who has an expiring PGWP. The change is mainly intended to accommodate Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates who have not had the opportunity to apply for immigration through Express Entry since September 21, 2021. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) paused draws for these candidates, who are oftentimes PGWP holders, in an effort to address the backlog in immigration applications. Draws for these candidates are expected to resume July 6.
Normally, PGWPs are a one-and-done deal. International student graduates of eligible full-time programs can get an open work permit for up to three years. However, the new measure will allow eligible PGWP holders to apply for a new open work permit for a validity period of up to 18 months.
The special measure was announced in April, however, details on how to apply are still not available.
Meanwhile, PGWP holders are seeing their documents expire, potentially putting them in precarious situations. They may have to get a new work permit, quit their jobs, or even leave Canada.
Tens of thousands of PGWP holders become permanent residents each year. They are already well-integrated into the Canadian labour market because of their Canadian study and work experience. In 2021, more than 88,000 PGWP holders became permanent residents.
The government has said more than 50,000 people could benefit from this measure.
Source: CIC News
Tags: PGWP CanadaPGWP Canada Extension
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Sheriff: Former Millbrook mayor charged with sexual act
Former Millbrook mayor Donald Briggs faces felony charges linked to inappropriate sexual contact with a person younger than 17, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said.
Sheriff: Former Millbrook mayor charged with sexual act Former Millbrook mayor Donald Briggs faces felony charges linked to inappropriate sexual contact with a person younger than 17, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said. Check out this story on poughkeepsiejournal.com: http://pojonews.co/2hJhY73
John W. Barry, Poughkeepsie Journal Published 10:20 a.m. ET Dec. 13, 2016 | Updated 6:21 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2016
Crime News(Photo: Chris Cusumano)
Donald H. Briggs, a former mayor of Millbrook, faces felony charges linked to alleged inappropriate sexual contact with a person younger than 17, the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said.
Briggs, 65, was arrested Monday and charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual act, according to the Sheriff's Office. His arrest followed a two-week investigation that also involved the Dutchess County Child Advocacy Center and Dutchess County District Attorney's Office. The victim is a non-family member.
Briggs was sent to Dutchess County Jail on $10,000 bail or $20,000 bond and released after posting $10,000 bail. He is due in Town of Washington Court on Friday.
Briggs served two two-year terms as mayor of Millbrook until 2007.
Anyone with information related to this case or Briggs is asked to call the county Child Advocacy Center at 845-486-3778 and ask for Deputy Sheriff Ben Sistarenik.
Calls can also be placed to the Sheriff's Office Detective Bureau at 845-486-3820 or the Sheriff's Office tip line at 845-605-2583. Emails can be sent to dcsotips@gmail.com.
Read or Share this story: http://pojonews.co/2hJhY73
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One Billion Pixel Mars Panorama
NASA's Curiosity Rover continues to delight and surprise nearly eight years after touching down in the Gale crater on Mars. Take over seven days between November 24 and December 1, 2019, this panorama is over one billion pixels in size. Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada gives a tour of the photo and Curiosity's mission.
Louder, faster, brighter, gorier, more — that was the ethos of Midway games when they dominated the arcade through the '80s and '90s. Classics like NBA Jam, T2, Mortal Kombat were among the best-loved second-wave coin-ops and the devs behind them became legends in the industry. Insert Coin is a look at the people in the back of a Chicago factory created some of the best games of all time.
Ozark / Season 3
The last time we saw the Byrde family was at the casino's opening ceremony. Season three of the Jason Bateman and Laura Linney-lead series will pick back up with them six months after the celebration and the Missouri Belle is open for business. Ozark returns to Netflix on March 27, 2020.
Duer Stretch Pants
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A 4k Trip Through New York City in 1911
In 1911, the Swedish company Svenska Biografteatern captured the streets of New York City during a trip to America. While the footage is historic and interesting in its original state, the eight-minute video only offered a black-and-white visualization of the vintage metropolis. Now, over a century later, YouTuber Denis Shiryaev has enhanced and restored the footage, producing a stunning 4k/60fps, colorized walkthrough of the Big Apple in the early 20th century.
Netflix Is A Joke Fest
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Spalwart Trail Blazer Boot Sneakers
Manufactured in the same factory in Europe where Spalwart's founders discovered abandoned machinery and shoe molds, the Swedish brand's sneakers resurrect traditional shoemaking techniques. These boot/sneaker hybrids are lined with high-top paneled suede with a rubber trim, buffed leather padded collar and lining. Each pair of these tough to find shoes has a grey and white foam rubber midsole and are available in black or white.
We recommend sizing up to the nearest whole size for half sizes if you are between sizes.
Grayl GeoPress Water Purifier
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Abandoned Geneva Motorshow 2020
Automotive photographer George F. Williams attended the loneliest auto show in history — the 2020 Geneva Auto Show. One of the most important shows of the year, coronavirus fears led to the cancellation of the event, but Williams attended anyway — and documented the empty affair.
The Gravity Falls creative director and the producers of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse are joining forces to create the ultimate animated feature. The film will follow the Mitchell family on a road trip to drop their daughter off at college. Along the way, their plans get derailed when a tech uprising takes over the world. Featuring the voices of Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, and Mike Rianda, Connected is slated for release on September 18, 2020.


Team Rocket is a semi-illegal organization that focuses on the capture and manipulation of various Pokémon for personal benefit. It also doubles as a Discord server that primarily focuses on the program Pokémon Showdown, a Pokémon battling simulator that can be installed on any PC, as well as Pokécord and Pokéverse; discord bots that allows you to catch, battle, and trade Pokémon just like a real Pokémon game. Even if these three things are not of much interest to you, Team Rocket still provides a welcoming space and friendly community for all Pokémon fans!


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Banned ISIS bride Shamima Begum could still return to the UK and this is how
An immigration law expert says she could regain her nationality
Danya Bazaraa
Elliot HawkinsContent Editor
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Shamima Begum, the ISIS bride who fled the UK to join ISIS when she was 15, could still be allowed to return to the UK.
The 19-year-old was stipped of her British Citizenship earlier this week, but she could yet regain her nationality, according to an immigration law expert.
Sky News sources have reported that this is possible due to her dual British-Bangladeshi nationality.
A Home Office letter seen by ITV News informed the family of Begum, who has had a child since leaving the UK, that she would have her citizenship revoked.
But an immigration law expert told the Mirror Online that she could get her nationality back as a result of her newborn baby.
The lawyer said she may also get a "limited leave to remain" in the UK for a temporary period of time so she can be in the country with her baby.
ISIS bride Shamima Begum 'has British citizenship revoked'
Ms Begum might also be given more time to appeal the decision to revoke her citizenship than is standard because she is "trapped", according to the lawyer.
Asif Salam, an immigration solicitor from Salam Immigration in London told Mirror Online: "The baby is British, so maintains his nationality.
"The child cannot possibly live without his mother, it's not in his best interest for the child to be in the UK without the mother.
"So because of the child, the mother could by default get back her nationality or get a limited leave to remain - to be able to live with her child in the UK."
The 19-year-old did not say she regretted joining ISIS (Image: Sky News)
The lawyer described a "limited leave to remain" as similar to a temporary visa for admission for a period of time.
Mr Salam also said Ms Begum could be given more time than usual to appeal.
He said: "When someone has their citizenship revoked, they always have the right to appeal.
"They go to an immigration tribunal and the high court.
"It's 14 days which they have to appeal within, but there are exceptional circumstances, for example if she is stuck somewhere.
"The court then has the discretion to extend the time to accept the late appeal.
Bethnal Green ISIS bride Shamima Begum gives birth after saying she wants to return home
"Obviously in Shamima Begum's case she may take more time, so the court may accept an appeal even if it's more than 14 days late."
The letter reportedly received by Ms Begum's family said it was a decision taken by the Home Secretary to deprive her of her citizenship, which has been served today.
The letter seen by ITV news reads: "Please find enclosed papers that relate to a decision taken by the Home Secretary, to deprive your daughter, Shamima Begum, of her British citizenship.
"In light of the circumstances of your daughter, the notice of the Home Secretary's decision has been served of file today (19th February), and the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made."
Do you think British ISIS bride Shamima Begum should be allowed back in the UK?
The letter reportedly said the family had the right to appeal.
It advised her family to make Ms Begum aware of the situation, according to the report.
Shamima Begum 'could be arrested' if she returns to the UK (Image: BBC)
Ms Begum's family have said they are "disappointed" that the Home Office have written to them to say they intend to deprive her of her British citizenship, their lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said.
In a statement posted on Twitter, he said: "Family are very disappointed with the Home Office's intention to have an order made depriving Shamima of her citizenship.
"We are considering all legal avenues to challenge this decision."
Another legal source earlier told the Daily Mirror that the move will make it very difficult for her to return to the UK, unless the decision is overturned at appeal.
He said: "As her parents are of Bangladeshi origin, she may have dual nationality, in which case she will become a Bangladeshi citizen.
"If she doesn't have any other nationality then she will have become stateless.
"If she was in the UK she could appeal for the right to remain, but as she is not she will not be allowed to return unless the Secretary of State intervenes."
Shamima Begum
ISIS bride has citizenship revoked
Begum slammed on TV by bombing orphan
Danny Dyer says she should be allowed in
Security Minister: She won't be rescued
Ms Begum had pleaded to return to Britain after giving birth to a baby boy - her third child since she fled London for Syria in 2015 at the age of 15.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "In recent days the Home Secretary has clearly stated that his priority is the safety and security of Britain and the people who live here.
"In order to protect this country, he has the power to deprive someone of their British citizenship where it would not render them stateless.
"We do not comment on individual cases, but any decisions to deprive individuals of their citizenship are based on all available evidence and not taken lightly."


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Four photographers show the devastating impact of urban displacement in their own countries.
Internal displacement is at an unprecedented global peak.
The number of people forcibly displaced within their own countries by armed conflict and other situations of violence has steadily risen in this century – resulting in more than 40 million internally displaced throughout the world in 2016.
This kind of displacement is more and more urban, in part because increasingly populated cities are the theatres of armed conflict and violence, but also because people flee to cities to seek safety. Yet, little is known about people's experience of displacement in urban settings and outside camps.
A new report released this week considers the perspective of both those displaced - and those hosting the displaced - in cities around the world. The report identifies approaches and challenges to urban displacement, and reflects on how to strengthen the humanitarian response.
In conjunction with the report, we asked four emerging photographers to show what urban displacement looks like through their eyes.
We wanted know: What does it mean to be displaced in cities in their home countries?
Nigerian photographer Rahmi Gambo took photographs in Jiddari Polo, in Maiduguri.
The displaced people she met with spoke of having to leave their homes suddenly, with their children, and nothing more than the clothes on their backs.
"When I would arrive at a location, someone would approach me and recount an irritated experience of being interviewed and photographed and nothing happening to change the quality of their lives. So, I asked them to turn their backs to the camera.
To turn ones back to the camera is an act of resistance. It also exposes discomfort and unease. The series oscillates between this discomfort and unease and the conceptual idea of displacement."
Honduran photographer Delmer Membreno met with three families who had been displaced within San Pedro Sula by gang violence.
Some had resisted extortion by the gang in charge, and others had been directly threatened because of their relatives' activities. All of them had tried to leave Honduras for Mexico or the United States, but they had all either been unable to cross the border or had been returned to Honduras.
Iraqi photographer Hawre Khalid has spent a great deal of time in Mosul in recent years witnessing and documenting the war.
For this project, he chose to photograph people who fled from the west of the city to the east in search of safety.
"The people in Mosul have suffered a lot, more than I could ever imagine. Most of them have experienced pain, loss, sadness. Their life is hard, more than anyone can imagine, yet they prefer not to stay in camps. They told me that outside the camps, they are at least free, have more privacy, and can find a job."
Farshad Usyan is a photojournalist based in Kabul, Afghanistan with a reputation for capturing striking and poetic visual moments of daily life. For this project, he travelled to Herat in Afghanistan's west, to explore the reality of displacement in the country's third-largest city.


Excerpt from Swift FawnWhile the younger women were moving about, the old grandmothers squatted back in dim corners, weaving baskets, sorting porcu pine quills for the next day's embroidery, and keeping the babies out of their mothers' way. Now and then the head of. Some bright-eyed boy or girl would pop through the door of the lodge to see what was going on inside, or to sniff the savory odor of the roasting meat.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.


Milwaukee's General Mitchell International is predicting about 151,000 passengers will go through the airport during the 11 day Thanksgiving travel period. Airport Spokeswoman Pat Rowe says the 11% decline compared to last year reflects a nationwide trend. She attributes a softer economy. Airlines have also scaled back their services including fewer flights and the number of seats available.
For keep things running smoothly at the airports, she encourages passengers to check the Transportation Security Administration website for information on travel restrictions.


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The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) is a complete revision, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993–2016). It includes many new features, updating of texts and bibliographies.
It contains 6,300 Hebrew words not in the standard lexicon of BDB (c. 3,000 more than in DCH), and refers to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions.
There are extended definitions of many terms (e.g. terms for harvesting, animals, plants) as well as loanwords newly noted such as borrowings into Hebrew from Akkadian and Egyptian.
New features include: a notation of 4,285 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 700 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 330 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
The numbering of references to Dead Sea Scrolls texts now conforms to standard Discoveries in the Judaean Desert (DJD) system
For personal names, short forms, reverse and alternative forms are noted for the first time so c. 2,500 personal names are now included.
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The first two volumes of DCHR are currently available to purchase.
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Q: Profiling firebase storage requests I have an app which uses firebase storage and I am observing an unusual traffic to the storage. The bandwidth usage is unusually high, which shouldn't happen with the usual behavior of the app.
I need to isolate a user or a stored file which causes this unusual bandwidth usage. Is there any way I can get more information about the storage usage, other than the information shown at the Usage tab of firebase console?

A: Firebase Storage only tracks and shows aggregate data for the usage in your project. It does not tie this usage to specific Firebase Authentication users.
If you need that, consider adding your own tracking for this, for example by logging uploads/downloads to Google Analytics for Firebase.
You can also log to Stack Driver, although it might only be in aggregate there too. For the exact metrics, see the Google Cloud Platform documentation on its storage metrics.
Alternatively you could reach out to Firebase support for personalized help in troubleshooting. But I'm not sure if they have access to the type of data you're looking for.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Political Dispensations in Somalia: A Dangerous Path
Due to pressure from the international community, the government, after it failed to stabilize and lead the country to democratic elections, presented an alternative selection process. Under such a process, each of 135 traditional leaders would nominate 51 clan members that would choose each parliamentarian of the first chamber of 275 seats. Moreover, each of the six clan-based state presidents would designate each of the 54-member seats of the second chamber to a sub-clan and then nominate two to four individuals so the parliaments of the regions would pick one for each. The combined members of the two chambers (329 altogether) would choose a president in November 2016. This report explains and analyses the political dispensation in Somalia. It argues that Somalia's political dispensations are marred by gerrymandering, manipulations and corruption. Finally, the report calls for the international community to safeguard the process and pressure Somalia's incumbent government to respect it.
In his report to the UN Security Council on September 27, 2016, Michael Keating, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Somalia (SRSG), admitted that the "scope for political manipulation of the process remains high."(1) Yet, while noting potential negative implications of the delayed political dispensation, the SRSG defended the skewed process, arguing that it is "imperfect" but it is still a credible arrangement that will provide the country's political institutions the "enhanced legitimacy" they need. The SRSG got this wrong.
Gerrymandering the Political Dispensation
Keating's reading is too optimistic at best, albeit it is consistent with the general narrative the donors want to hear. Obviously, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has comparative advantage because he is in power, and he co-opted the presidents of clan regions by overriding the parliament and replacing it with what he calls "National Leadership Forum (NLF)." (2) He purchased the support of Ethiopia and Kenya with controversial concessions that the Parliament has not ratified. (3) Moreover, his opposition is weak and divided as none of his competitors articulated new and workable ideas. Yet, instead of engaging fair and transparent race, the president, with the help of his "electoral committees" and his fellow-members of the NLF chose to manipulate the process to the extent of gerrymandering his come-back.
The so-called "electoral committees" at the national and regional levels are populated with the friends and employees of the president and the forum members who are leading it from behind. (4) Such a body cannot be fair and neutral to all political forces. Thus, nobody trusts them. The tainted "electoral committees" are using delaying tactics and arbitrary selections to benefit the president and his supporters. (5)
Additionally, as part of his campaign to stay in power, the president has recently made many politically motivated appointments (6) (ambassadors, ministers and senior public servants) and through the forum members and his interior minister tampered with the list of the traditional leaders.(7) Moreover, media and opposition groups have experienced repression and intimidation from the security forces. (8) On October 15, the Security forces closed down the Xog-Ogaal newspaper in Mogadishu and arrested its editor, Abdi Guled. (9) Some groups were denied to organize a meeting in public hotels, albeit the president latter re-assured the opposition groups they can meet. Most importantly, the level of corruption in the country has reached the highest for the last four years. (10)
Dashed Hopes
Somalia's political dispensations came at critical time when the hope for political progress and change is at its lowest among Somalis. Despite the high-level corruption and vote-buying used in the process (11), Somali people have given president Mohamud a great opportunity in 2012. However, besides slow and poor decision-making throughout his tenure, the president has not utilized his time of office effectively. For the first two years, he wasted much needed time in changing prime ministers and blaming previous administration for all that went wrong. Additionally, the president spent a lot of the time touring capitals of the world. Worse, the president spent his last two years of office in campaigning for his return. In other words, there is very little to show for the last four years in terms of political, security and economic progress.
The president's misplaced priorities led to three results. First, minimal effort was spent on building and/or respecting the constitution or the political institutions. The parliament was the first casualty as the president undermined this institution when he used it, through corrupt means, for removing the prime ministers he appointed. (12)The legislature lost credibility and whatever support it could get from the Somali people and the international community. For the four years, the parliament has passed few legislations. Eventually, with the help of the international community, the president has over-rided the parliament (13) and created the "National Leadership Forum" which is a parallel institution that took over the functions of the legislature and that of the Council of Ministers.
Second, because of the incumbent government's insensitive, local-mindset (14) and Mogadishu-centric approach, tribalism sky-rocketed for the last four years driving clan emotions very high. From 2012 to present, different communities in different parts of the country felt excluded and marginalized. The widely perceived clannish approach of Villa Somalia has permanently damaged the hope for creating a national and inclusive project. For instance, Jubba region conflict almost led the country to a renewed Hawiye-Darod conflict because the president did not understand the tribal sensitivities and vulnerabilities.
Moreover, recently, the president failed to handle the Somaliland issue sensitively when the president and his fellow NLF members were allocating the poorly conceived seats of second chamber. The question here is not whether Northerners in Mogadishu represent Somaliland or not; it is sending a gesture of goodwill. At the time of writing this report, the politicians from the north that are in Mogadishu have boycotted the selection process until this issue is resolved. Finally, there were also cases where many Somalis questioned the composition of the president's delegations overseas. Besides the behaviour of the government leaders, other factors such as the adoption of the Ethiopian designed clan federalism project and lack of public participation in constitution-making contributed to the rise of the tribalism and sectarianism in the country.
(1) Finally, the government has missed the mark when it comes to controlling corruption. To the contrary, wide spread corruption has repeatedly been reported. Somalia is still one of the most corrupted countries in the world. (15) More importantly, the government leaders' search for sources of money to steal ended up in selling public properties to their supporters.
Potential Negative Implications
Understandably, the hope is all-time low. There is a widespread discontent among Somalis with the incumbent government and its forum of clan leaders. Moreover, Somali people do not have a say in the selection of the next government. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his friends understand this fact and want to exploit this opportunity to their advantage. For many, what is going on in Somalia is not fair political dispensation where all political forces can participate in the process; it is a power-grab because the government controls the committees that are overseeing it and the eight members of the NLF have the final decisions. Moreover, the government leaders control the financial and public media institutions. Perhaps, one clear indication of how the president and NLF members are manipulating the political dispensation is the result of the selections of the representatives of the Galmudug, one of the regions, for the second chamber – almost all of the eight seats went for the president's friends and allies. Same will happen in some of the other regions such as Hiiraan-Shabeelle.
If the current process is taken to its logical conclusions, the likely scenario is that Villa Somalia will completely hijack the dispensation. Such an outcome might lead to three results. First, inter-communal violence might start again. This is a possibility. Back in 1969, the leaders of the government at the time manipulated the elections. As a result, many people were killed during and after the election, including high profile assassinations. This led to the military to take-over the power. Similarly, when President Siyad Barre refused to share power with the political forces, many groups opted for an armed opposition. In other words, greedy politicians who wanted to maintain power at whatever cost led the country to where it is today. Unfortunately, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud cannot see these dangers as he is determined to stay in Villa Somalia at any cost.
Second, the quota for the representation of women may not be secured. The proposed political process allocates seats of the first and the second chambers to clans and sub-clans. This poorly conceived institutional design does not often produce women as leaders or parliamentarians. The current leadership understands this fact and did not do anything to rectify it. The rhetoric of forcing clans to select women have not taken women's participation forward in the past political dispensations and it might not do it this time too.
Interestingly, the NLF members established unnecessary 54-seats second chamber that will have the same functions and representations as the first chamber. Then they arbitrarily assigned these 54-seats to sub-clans within the clan-regions and selected their friends and allies to fill these seats. Ironically, only after the UN representative pressured, the members of the NLF selected some women for the chamber they control. Apparently, the presidents of the clan regions are not committed to women's participation. Can we then expect the traditional clan elders to support women's participation? In fact, if Somalia's political class is serious about women's participation, the 30% quota has to be taken out of the hands of the clans and sub-clans permanently. Perhaps, one way of rectifying this is adding new 100 seats for women where men or clans are not allowed to touch. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his friends rewarded themselves with 54 seats, why not also add seats for women?
Moreover, Hawiye and Darod clans dominate the second chamber while some segments of the society such as Banadiri communities are not represented and others like Digil and Mirifle and Somaliland clans are under-represented. Additionally, the clan system does not often produce competency. Instead, clans use different logic and calculations that are not consistent with the modern day citizenship-centred model of governance. While it is imperative to accommodate clan identity within the political system, embracing it and basing all of the seats to clans is misguided approach. This system is not sustainable because it is based on group identity, not equal individuals who are citizens.
Finally, if the incumbent leaders return to power through corruption and gerrymandering, there will not be a political capital post-the-tainted selection process. In the past, dispensations resulted a political change that ejected incumbent governments from power and installed new leaders. These changes have often raised the hopes of the people and created a political capital, at least for the first year or two. Although the leaders and governments have not capitalized on this opportunity, the euphoria that the change brings is good for the system. Unfortunately, the current process is not fair and transparent. There might not be political capital after the selection exercise – may be this is the reason driving the donors' demand for the current dispensation. This alone, even if there is no violent inter-communal conflict, is sufficient to lead to the failure of next government.
A less likely scenario is that after all of these manipulations, the incumbent politicians might lose. Three rationales are often provided. First, in the past, an incumbent leader has never returned to power in the Somali politics. In 1967, even the well-respected incumbent President, Adan Abdulle Osman, did not succeed to defeat President Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. In other instances, incumbent politicians were also replaced after dispensations of 2000, 2004, 2009 and 2012. This view points out the 2012 dispensations where some of the leaders at the time (Former President, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Former Prime Minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and Former Speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden) who manipulated the system lost the raise.
Second, another view that is prevalent within the political class suggests that the loyalty of those that become parliamentarians is not to individual leaders that helped them win the seat. Instead, the office of the presidency is for sale. Votes were sold in the open market to the highest bidders. So if someone with a large amount of cash is in the raise, the incumbent leadership can be challenged. However, many believe that the incumbent politicians will not lose this raise because of lack money. They have raised a lot of money from various questionable sources. Finally, there are progressive voices that advocate for the disruption of what Professor Ahmed Samatar called the "Hawiye and Darod duopoly." (16) This means, the president will be chosen from communities outside the Hawiye and Darod clans. This would be a significant development in the Somali politics. But, overall, the scenario of defeating the incumbent leaders in their own game in which they are refereeing is not likely.
Ending the Villa Somalia Manipulations
Somalia is somewhat under indirect trusteeship of the divided international community.(17) Therefore, Somalis expect the SRSG Michael Keating to pressure the incumbent leaders and the forum members he helped create to run a clean race and respect the communities to choose their representatives. The late and half-hearted call to disqualify former warlords is not sufficient. In addition to that, those that are responsible for the corruption and politicized clan and sectarian violence must be named, shamed, sanctioned and disqualified. Defending Villa Somalia and the presidents of the clan regions will send the wrong signal that it is ok to rig the selection process.
In order to improve the chances of success for the process, the government, opposition political forces and the SRSG-led international community should work together to try to achieve three simple but useful tasks. First, all political forces should unite to fast-track the dispensation and complete the selection of the parliamentarians by the end of October – this is not only desirable; it is also possible. Moreover, there must be independent observers and all selection events must be video-recorded so those that choose the parliamentarians can be identified and vetted. Second, since the government does not have mandate, all major political and financial decisions that have been taken after September 10, 2016 (the end of the mandate of the government) has to be revisited. This is necessary given the fact that the government has abdicated its responsibility to govern in a fair and transparent manner. Finally, for the reminder of the period, a care-taker administrator that is not seeking political office should be installed until a new government comes to office.
In short, Somalia's political forces and the international community have the responsibility to make sure that Somalia does not slide-back to another round of inter-communal conflict. Allowing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the presidents of the regions and their "electoral committees" to hijack the process and control the agenda and the forums of the communities can lead to a dangerous path. Let us hope that Michael Keating and the international community he leads will use the influence they have positively.
Dr. Afyare Elmi
Afyare Elmi is political scientist. He teaches security studies at Qatar University's Gulf Studies Program.
More on Afyare Elmi


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Peacock bass
Peacock bass, Cichla monoculus
In 1969, 60 to 100 peacock bass imported from Buga, Colombia, were introduced into a pond in Panama for sport fishing. Several individuals escaped. By the early 1970s, they colonized Gatun Lake, the reservoir forming the main channel of the Panama Canal. Forty-five years later, native fish populations in the lake still have not recovered according to a new Smithsonian report.
Peacock bass, Cichla monoculus, originally from the Amazon River and its tributaries, are voracious predators. They are considered delicious game fish and have been intentionally stocked for recreational and commercial fishing around the world.
Photo courtesy Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Tropical Research Institute
Peacock bass research
Predator Invasion Had Devastating, Long-term Effects on Native Fish


Father Christmas comes to Sturfit to help the 7 to 7 Challenge!
We have been reliably told he will be flying in about 12pm and staying with us for about an hour, long enough to put in a couple of miles on the treadmill!
So come and meet him, and take some unique snaps of him getting some exercise before he heads off to the grotto in the Market Square – its not something you get to see every day after all.
N.B. Still time to buy raffle tickets £1 each, brilliant prizes on offer – tickets will also be available on the day – see you all on Saturday!


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Here's the real reason why Shannon decided to walk out of The Apprentice last night
I was so shook at last night's double exit
Last night's episode saw Shannon Martin quit The Apprentice but she didn't really give a full reason. Shannon has since shared her reasons for quitting the show following her shock exit in the boardroom.
Shannon, a bridal boutique owner from West Yorkshire, told Lord Alan Sugar: "Lord Sugar if I may. I've made the difficult decision to leave the process. Unfortunately I just don't feel like this is the environment for me. But I was to say a massive thank you for giving me this amazing opportunity."
It's safe to say Lord Sugar wasn't massively taken aback, he said: "Oh, okay. That's your decision. Thank you for coming and I wish you all the best for your future." He then added to the rest of the remaining candidates, "Well that was a bit of a surprise for everybody but I think it's an endorsement that this is a very tough process." Shannon has since spoken out about why she quit The Apprentice, here's what she has said.
This is why Shannon Martin quit The Apprentice last night
Shannon said: "During the bao bun task, I was there in the kitchen thinking 'Why am I here? What am I doing here making bao buns in a kitchen when I can't cook as it is?' I just felt like I couldn't focus on the tasks because I was constantly thinking about what was going on at home."
She continued: "What's happening with the business? Is everything okay? I knew in the back of my mind that of course everything would be okay, the team is amazing. But I'm a perfectionist. I need to know what's going on all the time and not being able to know how things were going on at home or what was happening at work was really hard for me. The unknown is definitely not something I'm good at. The more I thought about it, the more I thought 'Am I in here for the right reasons? Do I really want a business partner? Is this what I want? Do I want my life to change?"
Shannon said going on The Apprentice made her realise how much she loves her life, her team and everything about her life. She added: "I knew that I could potentially win the show, and did I really want to win and have my life completely changed? No, I didn't. I wasn't in there for the right reasons. The other candidates are just amazing and there are so many amazing businesses there that I felt they deserve to win. I've also got a very successful business. I just felt there were more deserving people than me and it was not right for me to stay in the process."
The Apprentice 2023 continues at 9pm on Thursdays, on BBC One and iPlayer. For all the latest reality TV news, gossip and for the best memes and quizzes, like The Holy Church of Love Island on Facebook.
• Rochelle from The Apprentice's company 'owes £65k' and has just £500 in the bank
• Meet the 18 new candidates strutting into the boardroom of The Apprentice 2023
• The Apprentice power ranking: Who's an icon and who's getting blasted from a cannon?


Winnipeg, Manitoba continues to recognize the role of its technology community plays in the city's economy by naming a section of Adelaide Street "Innovation Alley." The area, located in the city's historic West Exchange District, is home to many of Manitoba's exciting technology firms, as well as Red Deer College and the Manitoba Technology Accelerator.
While Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver receive most of the technology attention and a significant portion of new technology investment, Winnipeg continues to nurture its reputation as a hot spot for tech start-ups. With its central location in North America and a dynamic population of over 730,000 people, Canada's eight largest metropolitan area is a great place for technology entrepreneurs to consider.


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Rob Ford arrives in Los Angeles for Jimmy Kimmel appearance
#1 Mar 1st, 2014
Just days after he insisted he was not an international celebrity, Mayor Rob Ford arrived in Los Angeles ready to appear at the Oscars and on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show.
Ford is slated to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday. Kimmel greeted Ford and his entourage at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night, dressed up as a chauffeur.
Etalk host Tanya Kim asked Kimmel if he was taking Ford to the Academy Awards as his guest Sunday night.
"Absolutely. Wherever he wants to go," Kimmel said in the interview.
Ford told the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington earlier Saturday that he would be attending the Oscars. But his staff told CP24 that no Oscar appearances had been confirmed.
Ford's trip to Hollywood came the same week he told viewers of his Ford Nation YouTube show that he disliked the "celebrity" label.
Rob Ford arrives in Los Angeles for Jimmy Kimmel appearance | Toronto Star
BornRuff
Re: Rob Ford arrives in Los Angeles for Jimmy Kimmel appearance
What I don't really understand is how Rob explains this to himself.
Why does he think he is being invited to be on Jimmy Kimmel?
Liberalman
Quote: Originally Posted by BornRuff
I heard it on the news. Thanks to the stupidity of Toronto city council they helped Mayor Rob Ford become a global icon.
Quote: Originally Posted by Liberalman
Kinda like stubbin' yer fukkin' toe. Hurts like a bitch and you curse and grimace, even glare at the offending stubber, but in the end, it's your own damn fault.
They mad.
Quote: Originally Posted by Locutus
Like they say any publicity is good publicity .
No Party Affiliation
Yeah he's not a media *****. He definitely avoids the press at all cost.
The "Toronto Star" isn't real media.....
Machjo
'"Absolutely. Wherever he wants to go," Kimmel said in the interview. '
That was a risky thing to say!
Great now they have him on the front of a fuking float smoking crack.... so proud of our Canadian boy
NEW ORLEANS - A larger-than-life replica of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking a crack pipe was featured front and centre in a Mardi Gras parade float sending up headline-grabbing Canadian celebrities.
The "Canadian Club" float ribbed Ford for his admitted drug use, and sported mockup Toronto Star newspaper headlines blaring "Mayor Ford: 'So I smoked a little crack'" and "I was in a drunken stupor."
A brief video posted online shows smoke billowing out from the Ford float's crack pipe as it rolled down a New Orleans street Friday night.
Painted on the side of the float were caricatures of Justin Bieber — who faces drug use allegations in Florida — clutching a smoky bong and former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson holding a sign reading "Remember me?"
Ford was making local headlines again this week when he challenged the city's police chief to publicly detail the cost of a long-standing police investigation into his activities sparked by reports of a purported Ford crack cocaine video.
The mayor, who is running for re-election, accused Chief Bill Blair of waging a politically motivated campaign and dared the top cop to "arrest me," insisting he has done nothing wrong.
Lovers gonna stay blind...
He had fans in Ottawa who wanted to get their picture with him. The moral of the story: smoke crack and get a fan club.
How have you had to change your appearance for a job?
by CBC News | Jun 17th, 2008


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Letters to the editor: Defining Jefferson Davis' legacy isn't that simple
Quotes can cut both ways.
Letters to the editor: Defining Jefferson Davis' legacy isn't that simple Quotes can cut both ways. Check out this story on montgomeryadvertiser.com: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/opinion/2019/06/27/letters-editor-defining-jefferson-davis-legacy-isnt-simple/1543615001/
Letters to the Editor Published 10:30 a.m. CT June 27, 2019
Jefferson Davis (Photo: File)
In his article about Alabama's Jefferson Davis holiday, Brian Lyman calls Davis a racist and gives several quotes to substantiate his claim. Quotes, however, can cut both ways. Consider these words from Abraham Lincoln, speaking at a Lincoln-Douglas debate in 1858:
"I will say then that I am not, nor have ever been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races … there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I …am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."
The depictions of slavery Mr. Lyman gives are truly horrific. But even here, there are two sides to the story. Note these words from Booker T. Washington's "Up From Slavery":
"As a rule, not only did the members of my race entertain no feelings of bitterness against whites before and during the war, but there are many instances of Negroes tenderly caring for their former masters and mistresses. ... I know of instances where the former masters of slaves have for years been supplied with money by their former slaves to keep them from suffering."
You don't do that for people who have treated you terribly.
Both sides of every story must be told.
Reader would like to see editorials from a certain Washington Post columnist published
I commend the Advertiser for publishing a letter by Keith Smith in its June 9 edition which was critical of the paper's increasingly conservative editorial slant. I, myself, "retired" from the opinion page last year because my submissions, which had previously run frequently, began to be regularly rejected.
Smith was spot-on in his critique of former Bush administration official and Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen, who will twist and distort the facts as necessary to make any issue a win for Trump. I never click on the Thiessen pieces when they appear in the Post or read them when, somewhat stale, they later appear in the Advertiser.
On the other hand, there is former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, also writing for the Post, who writes about the moral bankruptcy of Donald Trump and the enablers and toadies who surround him with a righteous indignation that stands as a monument to truth and moral consistency. The Advertiser runs the pieces from the Post by Thiessen, as well as the moderate conservative Kathleen Parker, and the liberal Dana Milbank, but never reprints Gerson.
Gerson, a devout Christian, has for over two years taken his fellow conservatives to task for selling their souls to Trump for political expediency. In addition, he has ripped Christian charlatans, like Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell Jr., who have excused every Trump vulgarity because of their own political agenda (and their own enormous egos).
I urge every Advertiser reader to go online and read Gerson. Go back two years and read all of them up to the present. You will encounter a person with a moral compass that will not be compromised because an ignorant buffoon has belatedly and cynically identified himself as a Republican.
Challenge to Roy Moore
I wish to challenge Judge Roy Moore to a public debate on his qualifications for Senate.
I am not an elected official. I am a 70-year-old retiree, who is wondering if Judge Moore is as dedicated as he says he is to support and defend the Constitution of Alabama, and of the United States. I don't think he is. I am not talking about the accusations against him. I am only speaking about the issues and the future of Alabama.
If he wants to engage in a public debate with me here in Montgomery, at any location he wants, is he courageous enough and dedicated enough to accept my challenge.
There are no throw-away children
The more I hear about "women's rights" to their bodies, the angrier I get. If they care so much about their bodies, then why do so many use them so carelessly? And today, I hear more and more that abortion should be used to end the lives of "imperfect" throw-away children. I have yet to meet a "perfect" adult, but I have met a near perfect child — my daughter.
Jaimie, born with Down Syndrome, lacks something most of us have — bias. She does not see color, sexual preference, religious choice, ethnicity or anything else, except another human being who needs love.
Had this beautiful human been aborted, her dad might have ended up in a home when he had a massive stroke. It was Jaimie who made keeping him in a loving home possible. She worked with me every day, eager to help in any way possible. No job was too big, too small, too messy, too hard for her to pitch in. She never grumbled about using her life to make his life more comfortable, when he could do nothing for himself.
Had this remarkable young woman not been with me, her uncle's life might have been far different, when his kidneys began to fail and he came to live with us. SHE was the one, even through the noise of a C-PAP machine, who heard every tiny noise he made when in distress. Immediately, she ran to his bedside helping him get into bed or coming for me to aid him however necessary.
Jaimie was considered a throw-away child 41 years ago, but today she is thought to be not even worth considering when we come to the choice of life and death.
She helps keep the house clean. She feeds and waters the pets. She is a walking calendar, even to knowing the pets' birthdays. She is the one who brings smiles to the local senior center, as she remembers to bring them treats, little gifts and hugs all around. She is the one who knows how to work her computer because she set up her own system of finding the sites she wants. This is the young woman who is up to her green belt in Taekwondo. This is a valuable human being; not a throw-away.
For those who want a "perfect' child," she is as close as you will never get, because you are not willing to give those like her a chance. I thank God for putting her into our lives, although we never did anything worthy of having such wonderful children as she and her brother.
Her doctor told us to take her home and expect nothing, just love her. We disagreed. We took her home, loved her and expected EVERYTHING until she told us she could not do a task. Forty-one years later, we are still waiting to hear those words. She firmly believes she can do anything she sets her mind to do. And so do we.
Maggie DiGiovanni
Cloverdale Playhouse wins again and again
"This magical old church gives the Playhouse a special warmth," said Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Walt Aldridge as he named his next song. "It's a better feeling than the Nashville bars where top performers sing my tunes."
A packed house heard Walt, Kellie Johnson and Brett Burcham, all noted songsmiths, play at the Cloverdale Guitar Pull. The Pull has entertained music lovers on the last Tuesday of each month for the past seven years. Two hours of great music and free drinks are a bargain for the $10 charge.
And just a few nights' earlier pianist Randy Foster directed the Playhouse Cabaret, where a dozen local singers gave a night of serious and often very funny music. The $15 ticket price benefited the Playhouse School and AIEA (Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts). Tears, roaring laughter and a standing ovation were praise for Foster's music fest.
The nearby Capri Theater and the Playhouse joined to feature Carmine Street Guitars on June 25. Rolling Stone wrote of the film: "Portrait of a West Village guitar shop as a boho oasis is a love letter to a downtown musicians — an absolutely essential documentary about the importance of community."
As for live theater, the Playhouse opens with The True Adventures of PINOCCHIO, its third feature play this season on July 18. The 18 talented performers will do eight shows until July 28. This play followed Flying West, which filled the house and was one of the best I've seen, including top New York works. The $20 admission shames the major costs of Broadway features. And the actors' quality is often better than professional players.
The Playhouse's artistic director Sarah Thornton and its selection committee rounded out a great season with RUMORS and Dancing at Lughnasa, coming in October and December. Not the least of Playhouse activities is its children's education program that does winning shows. Operations manager Campbell Parker, technical director J. Scott Grinstead and box office manager David Cline-Davidson, along with a host of dedicated volunteers, help make the Playhouse a major community theater.
The Playhouse's generous board of directors takes pride in a place where our community works together to create magical transformative experiences and carry on the traditions of the old Montgomery Little Theater. Elizabeth Crump, a theater activist at MLT for years, was a generous supporter of the Playhouse when it started in 2009. The theater is named in her honor.
Please visit the Playhouse for a once-a-month musical, a special event or one of its great plays. Just call 262-1530 or check the website for its full schedule.CloverdalePlayhouse.org.
Morris Dees
Cloverdale Playhouse President
Read or Share this story: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/opinion/2019/06/27/letters-editor-defining-jefferson-davis-legacy-isnt-simple/1543615001/


Schoenemann worked with Canadian researchers, Trevor Porter from the University of Toronto and Duane Froese from the University of Alberta to conduct a new study that looks at Yukon permafrost for clues about climate.
Climate researchers who study the pre-historic era rely on preserved physical characteristics of past climates, called proxies, to reconstruct the past. At high latitudes, precipitation isotopes preserved in ice core records are one of the most valued tools used in these studies. However, ice cores have only been developed in glaciated regions where surface ice remains frozen year-round.
Porter and his team, which included Schoenemann, were able to discover that ice core-like records can also be found in permafrost and can also be used to reconstruct past temperature histories and place recent climate changes in a long-term context.
"Much of our current understanding of past climate is restricted to regions where glacier ice is prevalent, however, the development of this novel technique will greatly broaden both the spatial coverage and temporal reach of climate histories we can obtain in polar locales," Schoenemann stated.
The research team recovered a sequence of permafrost cores from a peatland in central Yukon that contains a continuous 13,600-year record of precipitation isotopes that they used to estimate long-term changes in summer temperature for that region.
"Each centimeter of ice in the permafrost cores represents 20 to 30 years of mainly summer precipitation. Importantly, the water isotopes in the ice can provide detailed estimates of past summer temperatures in this region," explained Porter.
Based on the results of the study, historical climate data indicates that this area has increased in temperature in comparison to other high-latitude regions. This region, a part of the Yukon called Eastern Beringia, has experienced warming of just over 2°C over the past century, which is above the global average and above the average of the Arctic region in general.
To read the research article in its entirety visit the Nature Communications website.